This one is going to be a rather dry piece where I will be writing about a news report that caught me, yes, with bewilderment. Horrified as I went on reading the report, I was constantly reminded of the film Matrubhumi that I saw a few years back where a girl gets married in a village where there is not a single woman. This story, this reality is… Well, let me QUOTE excerpts from that news report published in The Times of India (Kolkata edition, Tuesday, 16 February 2010, Page 8).
Female Infanticide the norm, village gets 2nd ‘baraat’ in 120 years
It’s a proud moment, not just for Panna Singh’s family, but for the entire Devda village. For, on Tuesday, it will welcome a baraat – only the second time in 120 years. Panna’s daughter Shagun Kanwar will wed Shailendra Singh at this Rajput village, which had earned notoriety for the very high incidence of female infanticide.
The only other time a baraat came to Devda was in 1998, when Shagun’s cousin Jayant Kanwar became the first girl to get married in over a century in this village…
There’s a century old reprehensible custom of killing the girl child in these parts. It was almost an act of revolt by Inder Singh Bhati and his wife who, 29 years ago, went against the wishes of the community and decided their baby girl will live. While everybody else around killed their daughters, the Bhatis, who had lost three sons before Jayant’s birth, could not bring themselves to follow the bizarre village ritual with infant girls.
“I don’t remember what we were thinking but it was my wife who took the decision. I supported her,” recalls Inder.
What he remembers is how difficult it was. “We were often taunted. People talked behind our back and, initially, my daughter, Jayant, was also shunned. But gradually, she was accepted,” he said.
Later, Inder’s brother Panna too decided not to kill their girl child and that’s how Shagun managed to live. Panna admits it was a giant step his brother and sister-in-law took to keep Jayant alive. “It was unthinkable then and even today it takes courage to do so. After we ensured our girls lived, there was a rise in number of girl children in Devda,” said Panna. He is glad that marriages are being welcomed in the village.
Despite that and despite the fact that there are over 70 Rajput families in the village, there are only 12 Rajput girls in Devda. Apart from Shagun, Chandra Kaur (17) is the only girl in Devda above 10. She says: “It’s a relief to see the Rajput families finally respecting their girl children. No doubt they are only few in number even today but at least, they are there. Now one doesn’t feel absolutely lonely, there is some company at last.”
As the report goes, what horrifies here, the village has lived with it for centuries. What is of hope, there has been, of late, the stray “act of revolt” and now “but at least they are there… there is some company at last”.
May be it tends to send one numb. But that is not what we can afford to do. This is India, the country we live in and are often proud of. Come, let’s know our India. Come, let’s change it.
